Acts 11:1-18 - Peter recounting his experience

The news of Peter's ministry at Cornelius' house in Caesarea reached the ears of the elders at Jerusalem. A serious problem was waiting for him when he returned.  These elders from Jerusalem wanted to know why did Peter go to the uncircumcised men and ate with them?

Isn't this quite similar to some modern situations? We nitpick on the rules and regulations but would bypass the more pertinent things that God had done. We are prone to major on the minor rather than the major, engaging in futile exercises.

This group of nitpickers is known here as the circumcised. These disciples are first mentioned here. Then in Acts 15:5, they were  alluded to as believers belonging to the sect of the Pharisees. And Acts 21:20 they were those that were really zealous for the law.

Although they seemed to criticize Peter for eating with Gentiles, the real issue had to do with their obsession with circumcision.  For them the rite of circumcision was an eternal sign given to seal them as God's covenant people. This rite must never be broken. Peter had done the inexcusable. He breached the rite of circumcision and now deemed to have acted against God's will.

Peter did not try to defend or justify himself. In answer, he merely told the story of what had happened. So for 10 verses, Luke retold the story  from verses 5-15. The story was recapped to emphasize that the Lord had indeed opened the door of the ministry to the Gentiles.

Although not as lengthy as the account of the original story, it captures all the essential details. However, in this account, Peter included the promise made by the Lord recorded in Acts 1:5. ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  Peter's point was this: what the Gentiles experienced was also the fulfillment of the Lord's promise.

Here God had also given these Gentiles the same gift as he did to the apostles at
Pentecost, which most of those who listened knew real well.  So Peter rhetorically asked, "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

Peter's presentation so convinced and silenced them that they even  glorified God. They realized that truly the door to find eternal life was now also opened to the Gentiles.  Although this account of what happened at Cornelius house ended positively, the issue on circumcision was far from over. It would pop-up again in Acts 15.

God still wants to instill in us an attitude that would make us a more effective instrument to reach out to others, even those whose outlook in life is different from us.  Peter's story is a clear reminder of that.

Let us not become so inflexible and unchangeably stubborn that would render us unusable. We must remain pliable and hopefully more loving, so that God can use us to reach the unloved. Let Peter's experience be a reminder to us.